Page 21 of Lady Audacious
Reuben shook his head repeatedly as he rode home, wondering what exactly had just occurred. Miss Aspen was an impertinent, opinionated minx whose ungracious manner he ought to have taken exception to. Instead, her attitude had seemed like a breath of fresh air to a jaded earl who was tired of everyone he met hanging on his every word and never daring to challenge his views. He smiled, thinking his sisters would be shocked to see the freckles that decorated Miss Aspen’s nose – a situation that didn’t appear to concern her, since she had been working in the afternoon sunshine without the benefit of a hat. But then there was little of the conventional about Miss Aspen, which was the aspect of her character that he found most attractive.
Her face was nothing out of the ordinary, he conceded, and one could easily overlook her in a crowd, but for her eyes. They were almost too large for her delicate face, and they were the most unusual shade of grey, fired by silvery shards of indignation whenever he said something to displease her, which appeared to happen frequently.
While her face might be average, there was nothing ordinary about her figure. Displayed to its best advantage in those tight-fitting breeches, the sight had made Reuben exceedingly uncomfortable, especially when she grew angry with him and her bosom swelled in accord with her indignation. The scars he had briefly noticed on one forearm and which she hastily covered had been livid, and spoke of a past event that intrigued him more than he cared to admit. He wondered what had caused them but knew he couldn’t ask such a direct question. He smiled, thinking that even if he did, she was unlikely to satisfy his curiosity.
She was audacious in word and deed, Reuben decided. She was not a member of the plutocracy. He would recognise her name had that been the case. But she spoke in a refined manner which implied a good education. How a single lady of her comparatively tender years had come to take possession of the house was a total mystery. He had asked his lawyers to look into the ownership after he returned from the war but they had hit a brick wall in the form of a man by the name of Sandwell, who would tell them nothing.
He still found it hard to believe that she intended to live at Fox’s Reach alone. The silly chit would be inundated with fortune hunters keen to make an impression upon her. That prospect disturbed Reuben much more than it had any right to, and he vowed to protect her to the best of his ability, even if that protection proved unwelcome. He sensed her fierce independence, an attitude Emily would no doubt applaud. Even so, it was misplaced. It was still very much a man’s world and Miss Aspen would be exploited.
He pushed Bandit into a canter as soon as he returned to his own land, deeply disturbed by his reaction to the challenging chit, which had been instinctive and highly inappropriate. She had felt something between them too, he’d sensed, and was as disgruntled by its interfering presence as he himself had been.
‘I’ve been celibate for too long,’ he told Bandit, turning him in the direction of the cottage on the edge of Amberley village, where his mistress patiently awaited one of his visits.
Reuben arrived home with barely time to change for dinner, feeling unsettled and cheated. The skilled ministrations of his mistress had only temporarily taken the edge off his disturbed mood and his thoughts still lingered upon the enigmatic Miss Aspen, more curious than ever about her circumstances.
‘Ah, there you are, Reuben.’ His mother smiled at him when he entered the drawing room just before dinner was announced. ‘We began to wonder where you had got to. Whatever have you been doing?’
‘I can take a guess,’ Arthur mutteredsotto voce, glancing at Reuben’s face and chuckling.
‘I called upon our new neighbour this afternoon,’ he told his family as he took his seat at the head of the table.
The announcement caused the anticipated barrage of questions, his mother’s voice rising above them all.
‘What is she like?’ the countess asked. ‘Is she quite the thing?’
Sarah had taken a seat further down the table that evening and seemed unnaturally quiet. It was almost as though she was sulking, which did not become her.
‘She is very determined not to sell the house,’ Reuben replied evasively. Well, perhaps not so evasively. What he had told his family was the truth, although it was not what they wanted to hear.
‘But is she respectable?’ the countess asked impatiently. ‘Who are her people? What gentlemen does she have there to guide her? Why has she come ahead of them for that matter? Oh dear, it is all far too modern for my liking.’
‘She sounds fascinating,’ Emily said, her eyes sparkling. ‘And so we will forgive you for going off on your own and not waiting for Sarah and me to join you. We were obliged to ride without your escort. Not that we need an escort, of course, but still…’
‘She is highly individual,’ Reuben said, ‘and very respectable, but I got the impression that she does not intend to grace local society.’
‘How can she, if she is an unmarried female living alone?’ Beth asked. ‘She will have no chaperone. I know things are less formal in the country, but even so…’
‘Did you like her, Reuben?’ Avril asked. ‘Will she make an agreeable neighbour?’
‘I certainly admire her determination,’ he said diplomatically, unwilling to admit to his family that he had ridden away from his confrontation with the challenging romp thinking her unorthodox approach stimulating. She would certainly provide a welcome distraction from the routine of managing his estate and having the world and its wife agreeing with every word he uttered. ‘She did not speak of her family but one assumes they will join her sooner rather than later.’
‘Perhaps she has been orphaned and some wicked step-father has left her the house in his will to compensate for being so disagreeable,’ Emily suggested.
Reuben chuckled. ‘You have a lively imagination, squirt.’
‘It rather sounds as though she should be avoided,’ Sarah said, speaking for the first time. ‘It wouldn’t do for you to risk associating with her, Emily, until we know more about her circumstances.’
‘Whatever she has done to acquire the property,’ Emily replied stoutly, ‘I don’t suppose it is contagious. Besides, I am now brimming with curiosity. How old is Miss Aspen, Reuben? If she is beyond marriageable age then her lack of a chaperone becomes less of a problem. She will be lonely if that is the case, and we should offer her kindness, if only to make up for the wicked step-father.’
Reuben shook his head, knowing better than to encourage his sister’s outlandish views. ‘She is fairly young, I suppose. No more than twenty or thereabouts.’
‘Goodness.’ The countess fanned her face with the back of her hand, looking shocked. ‘What is the world coming to? And what can her people be thinking, allowing her to come on ahead of them unescorted?’
‘She must be quite common,’ Beth opined.
‘Actually, she speaks well and intelligently.’
‘Is she pretty?’ Emily asked. ‘Oh, I do hope so. Wouldn’t it be lovely to have a tragically beautiful young woman living alone in a derelict house, shocking the entire community? Goodness knows, we could do with something exciting happening to rouse us all from our complacency.’
